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Published: November 1st 2008
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Even with our rocky start to our stay, Jakarta did not fail to impress! Our plane from Malaysia had been delayed, so, instead of arriving from Malaysia at 22:00, we arrived at 02:30am - we honestly though the man at the check in desk was joking when he said, "Oh, weren't you contacted? The flight's been delayed to midnight." And this was at 17h00. However, the time at the airport wasn't a complete waste, we read about the very colourful history of Indonesia which brought us to new levels of appreciation for the country.
So there we were, Darrell and I, curled up on a wooden bench at the airport, shifting our backpack pillows for maximum comfort, trying to sleep away the hours to dawn. I remember having a giggle when - at about 4am, a man approached Darrell asking him about our travel arrangements (we were waiting for the 6am bus into the city). After Darrell told him, he started, rather earnestly, telling us that the bus would only run from "8... no 9am... actually maybe even 10." Darrell, having had only a few hours of intermittent sleep, calmly looked up at him and asked, "Are you a taxi
Schooners
Docked a the Old Harbour, Kota, Jakarta driver?", the man, somewhat taken aback, answered, "Yes". Darrell continued, "well we don't want a taxi, thank you" and just like that, the man turned and left... it was wonderful!
{Just to put this into perspective, Taxi drivers in Asia struggle to take no for an answer. Even if you are busy taking a photo of something, half way through a meal, or trying to sleep, they seem convinced that they can persuade you to take a ride somewhere}
The bus did arrive at 6am and we enjoyed a very comfortable ride into the city. We were dropped off at Gambir station, just around the corner from the street best known for budget accommodation, Jl Jaksan. Honestly, we were too tried to go trekking around looking at our options for accommodation, so we made a bee line for the number 1 recommendation in our Lonely Planet. Again, too tired to care that the place did not offer internet any more, and had doubled in price, we booked our room. They had a bed, a balcony, and we could check in immediately... so we did 😊
Jakarta is a great city! The streets are wide with trees and
Trying out the antiques
Most of these were salvaged from the wrecks of old trade ship. neatly trimmed garden beds filling the pavements. And, thanks to former revolutionary and president, Sukharno, there are beautiful monuments and statues on every second corner. Gambir station is right by his last monument, a tall marble pillar with a 4 tonne gold-leaf flame on the top known as Sukharno's last great erection. The monument is in the center of a large park where touts sell post cards during the day and children fly brightly coloured paper kites as the sun sets. It really is a great place to unwind and take a break from the city rush.
Just outside the park is also where we found the best Mi Goreng (instant noodles, veges and an egg. Add your own spices to taste.)
And that was our welcome - and what a welcome indeed.
The one thing about Jakarta at this time of year is that it's super hot! Darrell and I found ourselves ducking into movie theaters to 'see what's showing' and fancy department stores just for the aircon on our walk to try and find some markets. We we saw an antique market selling all kinds of Dutch and British artifacts dived out from shipwrecks, Japanese
samurai swords, British ducks, a stuffed turtle and so on... the other market we passed through was a more practical and functional one, selling locks, CDs and satays, filling the bustling street with mouth watering smoke.
For getting around town, Jakarta has devised a brilliant plan. They have busses running like a subway - with transfers and platforms and everything. It's called 'TransJakarta'. We used it to get up north to Kota to see the old Batavia buildings and the cafe we'd heard so much about. It was great. The cafe is covered in old photos and the architecture is wide and open. It was a great spot to just sit and chat and enjoy the atmosphere.
We also passed through the harbour, with the massive wooden ships being loaded for their next voyage. It was such a great day.
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